Can the Boston Celtics win one against the Miami Heat in tonight's Game 3? Our NBA picks are locked in, and you might be surprised at where we are leaning.
The
Western half of the bracket won’t have a sweep, as the Thunder took care of the
Spurs in convincing fashion last night. Now it’s the Celtics turn to try and
avoid a sweep at home, as they welcome in the Miami Heat for Game 3. The
Celtics played excellent basketball in Game 2, but could not overcome Miami’s
push in overtime.
Rajon
Rondo had a fantastic game with 44 points and a near triple double. However,
the rest of the Celtics did not show up when they were needed the most. Dwyane
Wade scored 8 points in overtime to lead the Heat to a 2-0 series lead.
Now at
home, the NBA odds makers have opened the line as an even game, however, big
money on the Celtics has pushed the line to favor the home Celtics at -2. The matchup's total has also been bet up, and after opening around 177 points, it now
sits at 180.5.
The
public’s money is almost dead even on this game. Will the Celtics be able to
bounce back in this series like the Thunder did, or will the Heat take a
commanding 3-0 lead after this evening?
All out production
The
Celtics struggled to find offense at key points in Games 1 and 2, which killed
them. Game 1 was the entire game, but Game 2 was just the end of the game.
Despite Rondo single handedly holding off a Heat run, he was not enough by
himself.
Even
though the Celtics Big Three had solid games, they went cold in the 4th
quarter and in overtime. Paul Pierce fouled out on a questionable call, and
that took all the air out of Boston.
Another
problem that faced the Celtics was their bench scoring. The Celtics bench
scored a big-time seven points all together for Game 2. The Heat’s bench
(normally just as unproductive) had 25 points, and Mario Chalmers had a huge
night with 22 points.
Blue flames?
The
questions I keep asking myself in this series are; are the Celtics that bad,
are the Heat that good, or are the refs and the NBA in collusion? I think it’s
a combination of the three, but mostly the first two. The Heat are that good
and unfortunately for Boston and their fans, the Celtics aren’t at that level. They are old and tired., and it is starting to show
However,
I think going on the road is going to hurt the Heat more then the age will hurt Boston.
I think Boston has a chance to get a game here in a big way. They almost won
Game 2 on the road, and when playing at home, the Celtics greatly improve.
Boston’s
defense is already great, but at home, their defense improves by an incredible
5 points per game. Along with that, the Heat aren’t exactly road warriors. Miami
was 14-19 ATS on the road this season, and in the playoffs, they are only 3-2
SU on the road.
The Sharp Picks
Despite
the amount of scoring that went on in Game 2, I’m looking the other way tonight, and adding the UNDER to my NBA picks. As I mentioned above, the Celtics’ defense takes several steps up when at
home, and the Heat’s average road scoring drops two whole points from what
their overall scoring is.
Also,
I’m siding with the Celtics on the moneyline. Boston should have won Game 2,
and their bench and role players will all have better games when playing on the
parquet in TD Garden. Boston was 18-14-1 ATS at home this season, which
includes two wins and two covers against the Heat.
My Picks: UNDER 180 ½ & Celtics -135